by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) … On top of that, a senior Senate aide close to the pro-ethanol camp led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said “there is debate” over whether it will take legislation to enact the changes Trump seeks.

“We view it as a technical correction,” the aide said, meaning that the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House have the authority to make the change administratively without legislation to allow 15-percent ethanol fuels to be sold year round.

But others in the House of Representatives say there is no substitute for legislation when it comes to the EPA waiver Trump wants, entailing that it will take more time and be more complex to make Trump’s plan a reality.

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Shimkus (Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment panel, is in the middle of drafting a comprehensive bill to reform the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program, which requires oil refiners to blend ethanol and other biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply.

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Most of the U.S. gasoline supply contains 10 percent ethanol year round, but allowing 15 percent blends to be sold would increase demand for corn ethanol and help farmers weather a difficult global grain market.

Farmers have complained that Trump’s own trade policies are hurting the market for grain. Their complaints forced the president to push the ethanol plan to the forefront last month after announcing a $12 billion assistance package meant to help farmers cope with higher tariffs by imposed by China and Europe in retaliating against Trump.

Haverly (Jordan Haverly, spokesman for Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois) could not confirm whether the House bill addresses the E15 waiver directly, although he said that Shimkus is supportive of extending the waiver through legislation.

A similar bill is being drafted in the Senate by Republican Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas.

Trump told an audience in Iowa last month that the administration is “very close” to enacting the 12-month E15 waiver, but admitted it is a “very complex process.”

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The Senate aide pointed out that a decision allowing the sale of E15 would eventually reduce RIN prices and help refiners, while sending a positive signal to the market to begin building out the infrastructure to begin using more of the fuel. READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN The Progressive Farmer: Offering some assurances to Midwest farmers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday he got a call from President Donald Trump just as he was heading to the Farm Progress Show.

“He called me just as I pulled into the gate and said, ‘Sonny, we need to get that year-round E15 done. Let’s get it done,'” Perdue said a couple of times Wednesday. READ MORE